I recently read an article by Scott Henson http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com, where he
discusses solitary confinement and its negative effects for the prisoner as
well as communities. To be honest,
I never really thought about possible consequences of this for society. Like many people, I thought it’s a
necessary punishment that must be used.
I thought this article was well written and informative.
It gave me insight on some ideas that I
rarely ever hear about. It claims
segregation policies and practices are costing Americans a lot of money and are
undermining public safety. When
inmates are put into solitary confinement, the conditions are so harsh that
they can no longer function adequately in society. The author states that many of these inmates are in fact
innocent, and eventually are released from prison and begin their lives in
society again. I think it is crazy
to think that such a harsh punishment is given to people who don’t fall into
the more serious crimes, who are not in prison for life. I agree completely with the author when
he says, “because the conditions are so harsh, it should be used sparingly as
the costs are high for offenders, taxpayers and public safety.”
These people will return to our
communities and live amongst us.
We don’t need to contribute to the number of mentally ill. The author is not against solitary confinement, but rather
using it carefully, as there are consequences for using such measures. Legislation currently has two bills that will look at administration segregation policies, that may hopefully find better solutions to solitary confinement.
Overall, I thought the article was
informative and well organized, I also liked the links he provided to give more
background information on the subject.
My fellow classmate Iris Johnson posted Isolation, mental illness and a call for legislation, which covers an article written by Scott Henson. Henson's article, Isolation, mental illness and a call for legislation oversight of Texas ad seg, discusses "administrative segregation", more commonly known as solitary confinement.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Johnson that this is an important issue. The criminal justice system, including the rehabilitation of criminals, needs major reform. Johnson points out "segregation policies and practices are costing Americans a lot of money", but fails to provide any data to back up this claim. However it makes sense that putting prisoners in in solitary confinement, would take more rooms and a larger building, therefore costing more money.
Johnson also states administrative segregation undermines public safety, although I agree with Johnson, I am unable to pinpoint the causes from reading this article. "Almost all of these inmates are locked in their cells 22-23 hours a day." I know I go crazy if I am in my apartment or car too long, and we are forcing people to stay in this tiny cells for days at a time; not to go off the map, but this is a legitimate form of torture used by our government at Gitmo. I know that sometimes people need to be punished, but is this how we want to treat our fellow human beings.
Unfortunately a majority or prisoners that are placed in solitary confinement suffer from mental illness and/ or are elderly. Many people being released after administrative segregation show signs of being mentally unstable, wouldn't you after being deprived of human contact for long periods of time. "We don’t need to contribute to the number of mentally ill." -- Johnson I completely agree with my classmate on this one. People are sent to institutions in order to be rehabilitated so they are able to function in society, not to diminish what is left of them.
Johnson talks about legislation that has been put forth in Texas to help reform these problems facing our society, but unfortunately does not cite the bills. I believe the two pieces of legislation that Johnson was talking about was House Bill 1266 and Senate Bill 1003, These are a step to fixing the problem, but not a permanent solution.